Conneaut, Ohio, man loses weight without surgery

WHO QUALIFIES?To be a candidate for bariatric surgery at UPMC Hamot, a person must have a body mass index or 40 or more, or have a BMI between 35 and 40 and suffer from life-threatening cardiopulmonary problems, diabetes or other medical problems.

Eugene Emery, left, of Conneaut, Ohio, has his heart checked by Jackie Smith, right, a physician's assistant at the UPMC Hamot Bariatric Center, during an appointment at the center in Erie on Feb. 6. Emery sought help from the center in December 2012 after weighing in at 457 pounds. Since then, he has lost nearly 80 pounds even though he, unlike many of the center's patients, has not undergone any type of bariatric surgery. ANDY COLWELL/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

Eugene Emery drives a school bus for a living, but what the Conneaut, Ohio, man really wants to do is fly in an airplane.

His dream is to travel somewhere warm, where the waters are blue and there are no ice dunes.

"But I can't fit in an airplane seat," said Emery, 31, who has weighed as much as 457 pounds. "And I won't pay for two seats."

Determined to lose weight, Emery sought help in December 2012 from the UPMC Hamot Bariatric Surgery Center.

Unlike many of the center's patients, Emery hasn't undergone any type of bariatric surgery. He is working with Amjad Ali, M.D., and his staff on nonsurgical ways to lose weight.

"At first I thought I wanted the surgery. That's why I came here," Emery said Thursday during a visit to the downtown Erie center. "Dr. Ali recommended the gastric sleeve, and I decided maybe to get it done. Then I started working out, saw that I lost weight and thought maybe I can lose the weight without any surgery."

Ali is a bariatric surgeon who has recently undergone additional training to help overweight patients who don't want gastric-bypass surgery or other types of bariatric surgery.

"There are a lot of people who are obese who are not candidates for surgery," Ali said. "I have always wanted to help people lose weight and be healthy, either with surgery or without."

Ali and a center nutritionist placed Emery on a sensible eating and exercise plan, gave him multivitamins and an appetite suppressant. Psychological counseling is also available to the center's patients.

Every month Emery returns to the center to meet with Ali or a physician assistant, who monitors his vitals, checks to see if he needs a new prescription and asks how the month has gone.

"It's a great support system," Emery said. "They have support group meetings, though I haven't been to one since October. I need to get back to those."

Emery currently weighs 380 pounds, a loss of 77 pounds from his highest weight. He said he no longer suffers constant foot pain and has more energy.

He now eats three regular-sized meals a day, mostly at home instead of the diners and fast food restaurants he used to visit.

"Give me a Grand Slam breakfast at Denny's any time," Emery said with a smile. "I would always eat right before I'd go to bed."

Instead of pancakes, sausage and eggs, Emery now eats plenty of grilled chicken and stir-fry vegetables.

He's also working out at Snap Fitness in Conneaut, though he wishes the weather would warm up so he could go for walks outside.

"I like walking outside a lot more than on a treadmill," Emery said. "The scenery changes, and it makes it more interesting. What I do is download podcasts on my MP3 player to pass the time."

Emery's goal is to get down to 200 pounds, a weight he hasn't seen since high school.

It's possible that he can get there by diet and exercise, or he might change his mind and decide to get bariatric surgery, Ali said.

"We've had patients lose some weight, then choose surgery," Ali said. "I had one patient who weighed 650 pounds, lost 200 and that's when we did the surgery."

Ali said average bariatric patients lose 5 percent of their weight by diet and exercise alone, while gastric surgery increases that to 35 percent.

Emery said he plans to avoid surgery for now.

"I'll consider surgery, but I wonder if I would follow through with it," Emery said. "Surgery is scary."

DAVID BRUCE can be reached at 870-1736 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNbruce.

WHO QUALIFIES?To be a candidate for bariatric surgery at UPMC Hamot, a person must have a body mass index or 40 or more, or have a BMI between 35 and 40 and suffer from life-threatening cardiopulmonary problems, diabetes or other medical problems.